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| Toshuga Shrine, Nikko |
Our last stop in Japan, outside of Tokyo, was the small town of Nikko. There is nothing desperately exciting about the town, and it is certainly not a place to decide you want to go out to eat late in the evening or on a Sunday - most places close - but it does have an interesting festival that I will post about next time.
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| Shinkyo Bridge, Nikko |
In the meantime, the main draws here are the Toshuga Shrine, and the mausoleum for Tokugawa Leyasu, the founder of the Tokugawa Shogunate, which ruled for over 250 years until 1868, and the bridge.
The Shinkyo, or Sacred Bridge, is the oldest of its type and one of the top three bridges in Japan, so attracts many visitors, especially as you can now pay to go on the bridge.
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| Toshuga Shrine, Nikko |
The Toshuga Shrine is probably the most lavishly decorated in Japan, as it is unusually a mix of Buddhism and Shinto. this combination used to be the norm, but in the Meiji period, they decided to separate them, and shrines were converted into either one or the other.
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| Toshuga Shrine, Nikko |
But the two beliefs were so intrinsically joined in the Toshuga Shrine, that they left it as it was, making it quite a rarity.
The shrine is impressive to see, with four reknowned elements. The first is the 'crying dragon', painted on the ceiling of the Honjido Hall; the crying aspect is a ringing noise that occurs if you knock together two pieces of wood directly under the head of the dragon.
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| Nemurineko, Toshuga Shrine, Nikko |
The other three are carvings. On the Sakashitamon Gate, you can see Nemurineko, the sleeping cat, carved by Hidari Jingoro. The cat is supposed to be incredibly realistic, but I'm not convinced personally.
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| Sozonozo Elephants, Toshuga Shrine, Nikko |
The second carving, on the elaborate storehouses, is one that most accept isn't that realistic. It is the Sozonozo, or imagined Elephants, which were carved by someone who had never actually seen an elephant.
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| 3 Wise Monkeys, Toshuga Shrine, Nikko |
The final carving, also on the storehouses, is the one we have probably all heard of, is that of the three wise monkeys. These are the original, and much photographed, see no evil, speak no evil and hear no evil monkeys.
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| Toshuga Shrine, Nikko |
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| Toshuga Shrine, Nikko |
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| Toshuga Shrine, Nikko |
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| Toshuga Shrine, Nikko |
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| Toshuga Shrine, Nikko |
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| Toshuga Shrine, Nikko |
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| Toshuga Shrine, Nikko |
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| Toshuga Shrine, Nikko |
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| Toshuga Shrine, Nikko |
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| Nikko |
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